Fall, is that you?

Up until three days ago, it was hot here in Wisconsin (and in Minnesota). Hotter than normal. Hotter than the entire summer of 2009. It's been in the high 80's to mid 90's for weeks. It's been heavenly if you ask me - I'll take hot over cold any day. Which sure doesn't do much to explain why I live in this godforsaken place called Wisconsin where we typically have about nine months of winter, a month of spring, a month of fall, and two weeks of summer. My ideal day is sitting with my feet in a cold creek on a hot summer day.

According to meteorologist Paul Douglas, we had 7 days above 90 degrees in the first 1/2 of August. http://www.startribune.com/weather/blogs/Paul_Douglas_on_Weather.html

So, what happened this week? I woke up Tuesday morning and my tropical little haven was gone. I opened my bedroom door and practically expected to see Jack Frost standing at the end of the hallway! We've been leaving the windows and the screen porch door open at night to freshen the air in the house, but we leave our bedroom doors closed. The house was so cold that morning, I had to put slippers and a sweatshirt on just to go close the windows and doors. It was 62 degrees in the house! We keep our air conditioning set at 76 and that feels cold to me so imagine my surprise when I was hit with 62 degree damp morning air. As chilly as it was, it was also refreshing. When I left my house that morning for work, the grass was dewy, the air was moist, and there was a distinct fragrance... yes, something very familiar... it was the scent of fall in the air. Is it really here already? Perhaps it hasn't fully arrived to stay yet, but it's hovering. It's whispering through the trees, it's sending it's crisp fragrance into the house through the open windows. It's tiptoeing across the grass, leaving cool morning dew behind. I do so love summer, almost as I love that one perfect week in spring when the sun is bright and the sky is blue and the spring bulbs are peeking through the dry brown leaves, full of color and fragrance. But, do you know what? I love fall too. I love cool autumn evenings spent roasting marshmallows over a fire and the soft wshh of red, yellow, and orange maple leaves swishing beneath your feet as you walk down a carpeted path in the woods. I love the smell of the earth and the leaves as the cool air removes all pungency that the summer heat brought.

I'm ready for you, fall. You may come when you'd like and I'll open my door to you.